Still alive and all well over here!

Hello!

Well, Zach will be a whole week old before this hour is up, and the past week feels like a dream... where has it gone??! Everything is SO much easier with a second baby than with the first, this past week has surpassed my expectations thousands of times over.

- Apart from a couple of hours in the hospital, there has been practically no post-birth recovery necessary- my body feels great and frankly better than it has done for as long as I can remember (last time I could barely sit down for a week or two!!)

- Zachy Baby SLEEPS, wow! It really is quite amazing. Since night 3/4ish he was been sleeping during nighttime hours (waking very frequently for feeds at first, but now only about every 3 hours... wow) So I genuinely don't feel like a walking zombie at all

- It is amazingly sunny and warm and Ben is off. It feels like a holiday!!! We have spent a lot of time out on walks with the whopping double buggy, and the rest of the time in the garden with Zach napping in his Moses basket (it only took a few days to get him to nap there and not only on us, hooray), Oliver pushing his scramble bug and diggers around, me drying loads of washing, Ben planting out seeds for our vegetable patch. Bliss!

- Somehow the last couple of days both boys napped in the afternoon. At the same time. Ben and I playing Scrabble to celebrate... he practically DOUBLED my score, I was absolutely pants! My only consolation is that Ben needs to check most of his words with me first because he can't spell. Hooray for beating him at something :) He also slaughtered me at Risk last night too, although I was doing my bit as a milky machine at the same time, if that helps my case?

The bad bits- not too many!!

- Absolutely explosive nappies. I had forgotten about those!
- Very painful breastfeeding... again. Major deja vu there and it is the worst worst WORST feeling in the world.
- Juggling two children. It's alright now but I suspect when Ben goes back to work and I am outnumbered...! Nah, all well so far.

Brothers!

HUGE bouquet... ah yes, BP! I love the thistle, it is beautiful

Headfirst down the slide on Saturday

Walking out by the river on Tuesday

Cool!

I was mocking Ben for trying to convince me that "wifts" was a word (as in wafts?!) when I realised that chrome has an h in it... oops! NOT very wordy then?!

Out in the garden with the washing

He stole a sock from the line and brought it back to his den

Brothers!

Two nappies to change??!

Oliver can now get into the car unaided. Uh oh!

Zachy Baby, pensieve in the garden at 9pm

Daddy watering his precious courgette plant :)

He's here!!

We are pleased to announce the arrival of Zachariah Peter Twigger, who was born at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital on Thursday 17th May 2012, weighing a healthy 8lb 11oz. Mummy pushed him out into a water pool in 20 minutes after 3 hours of contractions (not bad!) He has had lots of milky, sleep and cuddles and Oliver happily met him this morning and now says "Zack, Zack, Zack..."

Here are a few photos to prove he is real!

About to go out on our first outing this morning

Mummy + two boys!!

Just a few signs that I am losing it

It's official... I am losing the plot! Here are a couple of recent examples:

1. I couldn't find my phone anywhere... I searched high and low until I found it in the top of the bin

2. A couple of weeks ago I took Oliver swimming. As I put on my swimsuit I tried to adjust a weird lumpy bit around the bottom area... turns out it was one of Oliver's socks that had got stuck there when I washed it!! Had to laugh and explain as my fishing around probably looked quite odd to all the other ladies in the changing room...

3. I ordered some nappies for Baby Two and wondered why they hadn't arrived- on checking my order I realised that I'd sent them to our old Cambridge address (we haven't lived there for nearly a year)

Killing time and waiting for baby... urgh!

Hello!

I am still knocking around with a pretty huge bump and lots of hopeful twinges... nothing that has turned into a baby though!! I am now past the point at which Oliver was born, but still 5 days before my date (15th) and I have yet again reached the bottom of my 'extreme clean before the baby comes' list and the house is looking ok. Hooray!

Unfortunately I have swollen ankles and legs so I'm suppossssed to be putting my feet up a lot- actually above my heart which is easier said than done, especially with Oliver around. But I usually manage it during nap time and the evenings, when Ben and I have been watching 'Larkrise to Candleford' which we've never seen before. Really enjoying it so far, and all the better for being 10 hours long!!! Ahhhh :)

Now Oliver and I are starting to turn a bit loopy in the house (it's been raining pretty constantly for weeks now...) but today was fab- Oliver and I read lots of books, played pictionary on his magic writer eraser thingy, and made a den with Mummy and Daddy's kingsize duvet, watched 'Charlotte's Web' (one of his first full-length films) and during naptime I made him a duvet cover with my very favourite material ever with co-ordinating navy underside, which will match his bunting and owl themed bedroom.

Isn't this material just wonderful??? I can't get enough of it, and am wondering what to make next out of it! Possibly a tie for Oliver for church?! Something else for his room? Suggestions welcome.

Also today I made chocolate chip Tollhouse cookies, mmm, the best ever American recipe. I found it is on google images too, so you HAVE to make them: (I just chopped up a lot of chocolate for the chocolate chips).

So after a fairly lousy week today was fab, and now I am close than ever to getting this baby out, and have got Ben at home for a three-day weekend now. Hoorayyyy! Just what I need :)